say you FDM printed something on your 3D printer in, say, regular old PLA at 200deg C
and say you also had an aluminum mold of the same model
could you put that print in that mold and heat the mold to the edge of its glass point and blow compressed air through to iron all the outer surfaces to the contour of the mold, like blow molding but way slower and at lower temp with all the wrong materials?
@ajroach42 @kwayk42 @MountainTownToys
I’d love to get that going even if it was only usable for the relatively “simple” parts but my self-learning has had a steep curve
@djsundog @MountainTownToys @kwayk42 our 3D printed molds take ~3 hours to produce, last for between 50 and 200 pieces, and allow us to produce 1 part per mold every 10 - 12 minutes.
I had 8 molds in circulation yesterday, and I was able to get an average one part every 2 minutes.
With an aluminum mold, I can continuously re-use it. There's no waiting between parts. That means I can do one part every 30 seconds or so.
So ... yeah, it would absolutely be worth the two days of milling time if it was for a part we're going to use often.
DJ Sundog from the *new* toot-lab
Andrew (Television Executive)